


Across the Hall

by orphan_account



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Apartment AU, F/M, I hope at least, I might change the rating, Neighbors to Friends to Lovers, Romantic Tension, Slow Burn, berk is Berkeley wow I’m so clever, dunno yet, getting over writers block with this hopefully, post college
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25123729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “He moves in on an ordinary Wednesday in July.” Jack and Elsa live across the hall from each other...A slow burn neighbors to friends to lovers because I want to write romantic tension.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa (Disney)/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson, Nicholas St. North/Toothiana
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	1. We met a few weeks ago

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, do I think I’ll be able to keep the pacing slow? No. I am so impatient. But I’ll try.

He moves in on an ordinary Wednesday in July. 

Elsa is sitting cross legged in her bay window seat when she hears the unmistakable sounds of moving: people grunting and sighing as they stomp up the stairs with boxes that thud as they finally reach their destination. 

She feels bad for her new neighbor. Four flights of stairs is intense, especially when you have heavy furniture. Especially when you’re moving on a summer day in California.

She continues working on her case until she hears a crash accompanied by a cry. 

Elsa rushes out to see what’s happened. A woman, petite with bright blue hair, is lying on the ground. 

“Are you okay, Tooth?” A man with white hair asks. 

The girl gets up with some help from her friends. “I’m fine. I just scraped my knee.”

Elsa interjects, “I have some iodine and bandaids.” 

The group turns to look at her. She’s standing just outside her apartment. 

“Hello, I’m Elsa, I live here.” She points at the door. 

She internally cringes.  _ Why did she point?  _

“I’m Jack,” the white haired man says. “I’m the one moving in there.”

He points to his apartment across the hall which has been vacant for months. 

Elsa nods and leads the girl with the scrape into her apartment.

“They told me not to take that box by myself but I insisted it wasn’t too big.” She sighs as Elsa cleans her knee. “I didn’t need North going all chivalrous on me.”

“Well, this will heal quickly.” Elsa replies as she put on the clear bandaids. 

“Thanks. It’s a good thing Jack has a neighbor with a first aid kit” she laughed, “I would not be surprised if he comes by with an injury.” 

Elsa doesn’t know what to say to that, so she just goes with, “I try to be prepared.” 

Tooth continues, “You said your name is Elsa right?”

“Yes.” 

Elsa gets up and starts to put away her first aid kit. 

“I like it. Very European. My name is Elliana, European too, I think, but they call me Tooth, because I’m in dental school.” 

Elsa nods.  _ She hates small talk. _

“Anyway, thanks for patching me up. I better see if there are any smaller boxes I can help with.” Tooth laughs. She gives Elsa a quick hug and pops out of the apartment. 

* * *

Elsa doesn’t see Jack again at all his first week across the hall. 

Then, they run into each other in the parking lot. 

“Can I give you a hand?” He asks referring to the groceries she has overflowing in her arms. 

Normally, she wouldn’t let anyone help her. However, she was overly ambitious today and knows she’s damn close to dropping a bad, so she acquiesces.

“Yes thank you,” she says, flustered. He takes most of his bags without much effort.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Jack says as they walk up the stairs. 

“You too.” They start up the stairs. 

“How long have you lived here?” He asks.

“About a year.” She moved here after getting a job as a first year associate at a local law firm and she’s aching for a promotion. 

“Anything I need to know about the place?”

She thinks for a moment before answering, “There’s rarely anyone actually at the front desk, but they’ll answer calls promptly if anything breaks. There’s a grocery store just a block away. Once the school year starts you’ll see a lot of kids walking to school in the mornings which is cute but will add 10 minutes to your commute.” 

“Good to know.” 

They arrive at her apartment. Elsa unlocks the door and he places her bags in the hall. 

Her immediate instinct is to avoid eye contact but she rejects it. She forces herself to be normal. “Thank you.”

He gives her a bright smile, “Sure thing, neighbor.” 

She hadn’t gotten a good look at him the first day. Now, she can’t help but appreciate all the details of his face. He has high cheekbones and a pointed chin. His face is pale enough to pull off the white hair. His eyebrows are brown, though. His smile is a bit lopsided and easy. 

He’s beautiful. Not that it matters.

* * *

  
The woman that lives across the hall—Elsa?— is gorgeous. She dresses in fancy business outfits and has her hair up in a prim bun even when she’s not working. Jack has caught glimpses of her leaving her apartment or coming up the stairs. He wishes he could come up with a natural way to start a conversation with her. 

When he runs out of sugar in the middle of baking cookies he realizes he has the quintessential excuse. 

He knocks on her door. He doesn’t know her work schedule so he’s not sure if she’ll answer, but she does.

“Oh, hello.” She looks surprised to see him. Her hair is still in the bun.  _ Does she ever let it down? _

“Any chance I can borrow some sugar?” He shows her his near empty bag. “I’m baking cookies.”

“Of course.” She takes the bag and goes back inside to refill it.

She returns with a full bag. 

“I don’t need you to return the sugar but I wouldn’t mind a cookie or too,” she says with a laugh.

It’s the first time he hears her laugh, it’s a clear crisp sound. She looks even prettier with a full smile on her face. 

He obliges her request, delivering a tray of chocolate chip cookies half an hour later. She sends him a thank you note. 


	2. It’s nice to have a friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finds more excuses to talk to Elsa.

The fire alarm blares at four in the morning. _Some asshole must have burnt popcorn._ Olaf, Elsa’s puppy, wimpers. 

She hears a knock at her door so she answers it. It’s Jack in his pajamas with his hair in a mess. 

“Should I be worried?” He asks, his voice still coated in sleep.

“Someone probably burnt popcorn.” She sighs, “This happens a little too often, and Olaf still isn’t used to it.” 

“Olaf?” 

She motions for him to come in. Olaf jumps up toward the stranger.

Jack bends down to pet her puppy. 

“How long does it normally take for this to stop?” He asks. 

“Up to an hour. I usually go for a drive.” 

“Can I join you?” 

“Sure. Let me just grab my emergency bag.” 

“You have an emergency bag?” 

“I like to be prepared. Just in case.”

* * *

Things get infinitely better for Jack’s ears when they get inside Elsa’s silver Toyota corolla.

He’s holding her dog, a samoyed that is one hundred percent just a ball of fluff that likes to be hugged. 

“So where are we headed?” 

“Do you think you’ll be able to get back to sleep after this?” 

“Definitely not.” 

“Then let’s look for coffee.” 

They find a 24 hour convenience store and grab some cold brew from the freezer and some water for Olaf. Then, they drive over to a dog park so Olaf can move around.

Elsa has him trained well. He stays close to the bench they’re sitting at and drinks his water. 

Jack’s childhood dogs would have tried to escape. He tells her this as they sip their coffees.

“Samoyeds need rules and consequences for breaking them. They’ll try to be the alpha if you don’t make it clear that you are.”

“You’re an alpha?” He smirks. 

She rolls her eyes, “I’m in charge of Olaf here. Otherwise, no.” 

“Well, you are always in powersuits.” 

They both look down at what she’s wearing today. A pair of old sweatpants and a Stanford sweatshirt.

“Normally.” He amends. “What do you do?”

“I work at a law firm. What about you?” 

“I’m just like every other 20 something here. Went to Berkeley for undergrad, then got a job at a start-up. I moved once Tooth and North decided they didn’t want me third wheeling in their apartment anymore, and Bunny stopped letting me crash on his couch.” 

She blinks meaningfully. “Tooth, north, and bunny?” 

“We gave each other nicknames in college,” he laughs. “Tooth is obsessed with teeth, she’s in dental school right now. When we asked North where he’s from he just said up north, and Bunny had this incident where he had to dress up as the Easter bunny for this volunteer thing. He’s this jacked Australian kickboxer so it was absolutely hilarious to see him in the costume.” 

She smiles and takes another sip of her coffee. “Any other crazy nicknames?”

“We call Henry, who was my roommate for three years, Hiccup, but he came to college with that nickname. And then there’s his buddy Fishlegs which I have no context for and honestly am scared to ask about it now.” 

She laughs again. 

“And my friend has a last name Sanderson so we call him Sandy.” 

“Do you have a nickname?” 

“Jack Frost.” He laughs, “Hiccup dared me to dye my tips white so they were frosted, But it looked so bad I just decided to go all in.” 

“Instead of dying it back to brown?” Elsa asks incredulously.

“Oh, Elsa, that would totally have been cheating.” 

They both laugh. 

“When was this?” She asks. 

“Uh five years ago.”

Her eyes widen.

“I like the color,” he says, “makes me stand out in a crowd, you know.”

“That is never my goal.” 

“Did you ever have any nicknames?”

“I think some people called me the Snow Queen when I was in high school.” 

“Badass.” 

“It was a commentary on my apparent aloofness. Apparently, teenagers think being shy means you’re self-important.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He frowns into his coffee. 

“It’s okay, I never really gave them a reason to believe I wasn’t cold. I wasn’t trying to make friends.” 

He realizes this is probably a sore point, so he changes the topic. 

“So you went to Stanford?” 

“For law school.” She says. “I completed my undergraduate studies at Columbia.” 

“Impressive. I could not do seven years of school. Part of the reason why I chose coding.” 

“You program?”

“Yeah, Hiccup started this VPN company while we were still in school and it kind of blew up.”

“That’s great.”

They can see the sun starting to peak out behind the hills.

“I’ve never woken up before the sun.” Jack says. “I’ve only ever seen a sunrise because of an all-nighter.” 

She smiles. “I’ve pulled my fair share of all-nighters.” 

She’s finished her coffee. “I’m pretty sure we can go back now.” 

He nods. 

In the car, he asks her about her dog.

“I didn’t know we could have pets.” 

“There is an additional fee but yes, they’re allowed.” 

“How old is he?” 

“Six months. I adopted him at just a few months old. I had to drive out to Oregon to get him.” 

“Wow.” 

“I didn’t want to buy a dog from a breeder, but I really wanted a Sammie.” She strokes Olaf and he licks her hand, sweetly. 

“I got your note by the way.” He says, “Thank you for thanking me. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a thank you note before.”

She smiles, “You're welcome.”

Jack goes in for a hug when they say goodbye, which Elsa doesn’t seem to expect. 

“It was nice talking Jack.” She says at the door of her apartment.

He nods. “See you around.” 

* * *

  
Elsa makes the mistake of mentioning Jack the next time she talks to her sister. She’s complaining about the fire alarm when she lets it slip that she and Jack went to get coffee.

“Wait hold up who is Jack?”

“My new neighbor—“

Anna immediately asks, “—Is he cute?!”

She doesn’t get a chance to respond before her sister goes, “Omg, you’re so blushing. He _is_ cute. Wait let me see if I can find his Instagram. ELSA, HE’S SO CUTE.” 

“Anna, you’re married!”

“But you’re not. You should totally ask him out.” 

“Anna, you know I can’t.” 

“Why noooooooot?” Her younger sister asks.

“I’m too busy to date, I’ve never asked someone out before, and I am definitely not his type. He’s the kind of person who has lots of friends and likes to go out. I’m far too boring.”

“Bitch, don’t you dare. You are smart and cool and badass. You are wayyy to good for everyone, but least Jack has washboard abs.”

“How do you know this?”

“He has shirtless pics on his instagram. You really should check it out.” 

“Anna, I don’t even have social media, except for LinkedIn. Another example of how we’re incompatible.” 

“I absolutely refuse to believe this. ALSO, you didn’t say you don’t like him.” 

“I don’t.” 

“Lair. Kristoff, Elsa has a crush.” 

“You should ask him out Elsa.” Her husband chimes in. His face comes into the view of the camera for a moment, before he returns to his woodworking.

Her cousin Rapunzel and her husband Eugene agree. Apparently, Anna texted them immediately, because after the call she gets a text from Rapunzel saying she should go for it with Jack and several “eyes” emojis from Eugene. 

Her family is going to drive her crazy one day.

* * *

  
He knocks on her door randomly.

“Yes?” She answers. 

She’s in her pajamas. Who would have guessed that Elsa Arendelle slept in on Sundays.

“I’m thinking about getting a cat. Thoughts?” 

“Why do you want a cat?”

“I don’t think I have the time for a dog but it’s kind of really lonely living alone.” 

Elsa nods. “I got Olaf for the same reason. Never pegged myself as a pet person, but the nights get lonely.”

He immediately thinks about joining _her_ at night then forces the thought out. He’s not going imagine hooking up with his neighbor. If college taught him anything, it’s that dormcest never works out, and he’s pretty sure that rule applies to apartment neighbors too.

“I was wondering if you could give me some tips on pet adoption in San Francisco. Like which agencies to look into and such. Hiccup has a cat but he’s had him for years and none of my other friends have adopted in this area before.” He realizes he’s over explaining why he’s asking her, but he still feels like Elsa doesn’t exactly want to be his friend.

“Well first, I have to correct you. We don’t technically live in San Francisco.”

He makes a face. They’re _barely_ in the suburbs. 

“But I do have some names of places you can check out.” She says. 

“Do you have any plans today?” He asks.

“Not really.” She looks hesitant. 

“Well maybe you and Olaf could come along. I don’t want to get a cat that isn’t a dog fan.” 

“I’m not sure if shelters let you bring in other animals but I suppose we can see.” 

He convinces her to go with him even after the shelters she calls say that they would prefer they don’t bring in current pets.

They chat about the weather and their favorite spots in the city. He learns that she does pro bono work on the side of her gig as a private defense attorney. 

“Well technically I’m a first year associate.” Elsa corrects. 

“Hey, how old are you?” He realizes he’s just assumed they were the same age. 

“Twenty-Six.” She says. “What about you?.” 

“Wow, I’m only Twenty-Four. That explains why you have your shit together.” 

She rolls her eyes. “I’ve ‘had my shit together’ since I was a kid.” 

“Gotcha, Snow Queen.” He winks. Why is he trying to flirt with her? Elsa is totally out of his league.

She shuts him down too. She’ll laugh at her jokes, but she always shakes her head or rolls her eyes when he tries to be flirtatious. She probably knows she’s out of his league.

They get to meet these adorable cats. Jack’s favorite is this tiny gray kitten. He decided to name the kitten Karl, after the fog.

She lets him introduce Karl to Olaf, but only for a few minutes so as not to overwhelm either of them. 

Olaf LOVES Karl. Karl is overwhelmed by Olaf. It kind of makes Jack think of him and Elsa. He feels bad for intruding on her Saturday. 

But she tells him she had fun. 

“I honestly don’t hang out with people outside my family.” She admits, “I don’t want you to think I don’t want to be your friend. I’m just, not very well practiced.” 

Her vulnerability is endearing. _Fuck, he is definitely into her. And she is almost definitely friendzoning him right now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? What should I have them do next?


	3. I just want to know you better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna and Kristoff are coming to visit soon! Elsa and Jack start texting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support <3 I will be continuing to write this as long as it continues to be fun :) Also, yes, the chapter titles are Taylor Swift Lyrics, hehe.

Elsa gives Jack her phone number after awkwardly saying she wants to be his friend. 

Then she starts making a salad and roasted chicken with mashed potatoes for dinner. She meal preps the chicken, making enough for sandwiches for the rest of the week. It’d be nice to be able to cook every meal, but there just isn’t enough time. 

She thought after law school she’d have all the time in the world. She realizes now that she conflated having any free time with having lots of free time. It’s nice to be able to do whatever she wants on Saturday’s, to be able to handle a puppy, and to sleep enough every night. But taking care of oneself is so much more work than you realize when you put taking care of yourself at the bottom of your list while at school. It turns out cooking takes much more time than making instant ramen. And cleaning is much more work when you have a pet. 

She’s thinking about all of this when a call comes in from Anna (and Kristoff.. when it’s Anna it’s almost always also Kristoff).

“T minus four days!” Anna says excitedly.

Elsa corrects her immediately, “Five days. You count the day we’re on.” 

“Today is almost over.” Anna makes a face. “I’m excited to see you! Let me think it’s sooner please.” 

“Okay, okay. Four days.” She smiles and takes a bite of her chicken. Perfect. “I’m excited to see you too.”

Anna and Kristoff live in Oregon, which isn’t too far from California, but far enough where visits are a nice treat rather than a frequent occasion. 

They aren’t visiting for a long time, just a couple days, but there isn’t an occasion this time. The last time they saw each other in person was for Anna’s birthday in March. Elsa had taken off three whole extra vacation days (a big deal for her) in addition to the weekend. They always spent Christmas together, usually back in their childhood home, despite the passing of their parents. Their parents left them enough to maintain the estate despite neither of them wanting to live there. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the house exactly, it just held a lot of painful memories. Too much to live with, but it feels wrong not to spend Christmas in Norway. 

Elsa continues, “What so you want to do when you get here?” 

“Play with Olaf of course. Maybe make a meal together. And we have to meet Jack. “ 

“You don’t have to meet Jack.” 

“I mean it would make our trip significantly better if we did.” 

Elsa sighs. “Why are you so interested in him?”

“Because you’re becoming friends with someone. I don’t know if you know this about yourself but you have a high bar for friendship.” Anna responds.

She does. In high school, she closed herself off to everyone. In college, she was friendly with a few classmates she studied with. In law school she had become real friends with one person. Pocahontas was an outspoken activist who dragged Elsa to protests and taught her about social justice. She was probably both the most kind person Elsa had met in seven years of higher education and one of the smartest. The Snow Queen had become more open overtime, but it takes a lot for her to invest in becoming emotionally close with someone. 

“Untrue. You were interested in me being his friend before I even was.” 

“Well, you mentioned someone, which means he was interesting enough to mention which for you means interesting enough to meet.”

As a lawyer, Elsa is very good at arguing. Anna is her blind spot. Or maybe, just better than her. Anna isn’t interested in arguing outside of convincing Elsa she had feelings and should socialize. She works as a kindergarten teacher so her thing is more breaking up fights than it is starting them.

“Okay, okay. Yes he’s a nice and interesting person, and I actually think you would like each other.” She pauses before admitting, “I actually just got back from helping him adopt a cat.”

Anna squeals. “This is too good. Elsa socializing and there’s a kitty involved!” 

“Please don’t be like this around him.” 

“C’mon I am nowhere near as awkward as you Els.” 

Elsa sighs. “Yeah, I had to tell him I really did want to be his friend because I was so awkward all day. I didn’t want him to think that was because I didn’t like him.” 

“Oh no, you didn’t actually say friend, did you?” Anna looks worried for some reason.

“I did.” 

Kristoff chimes in. “Classic friendzoning.”

Elsa rolls her eyes. “I thought you wanted me to make friends. Don’t flip flop and say I shouldn’t.” 

“Elsa, you don’t end up just friends with someone who looks like Jack,” She pauses, “Unless of course you are happily married.” She gives Kristoff a kiss on the cheek. 

“Just stop pushing this or I swear I will make sure you don’t meet Jack.” 

Anna pouts. “Fiiiiiiine.” 

She smiles. She absentmindedly wonders if Anna has always been this adorable. She’d been a cute little kid, but after the accident Elsa kept her distance. They hadn’t really rekindled until their parents died in a plane crash, when Anna was fifteen. It had taken a year of therapy, a combination of family and grief counseling, but they’d been best friends for years now. She’s now almost totally free of guilt. Almost. 

“Listen, I have to eat this before it gets cold,” She shows them her food. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

* * *

Jack successfully waits till Monday morning to text her. 

**9:30 AM from the phone of Jack Frost**

Good morning, Elsa. This is Jack Frost. 

Good morning Jack

Do you have plans on Friday?

Actually, yes. I’m going to pick up my sister

from the airport. She and her husband are 

visiting until Monday. 

Any chance they’d be interested in a classic 

game night? I’m hosting :) 

I’ll ask them. 

**12:35 PM from the phone of Jack Frost**

They would love to come, especially if

we’re playing Monopoly or Catan. 

Of course. We’re not amateurs.

My sister can get...very competitive.

Fair warning. 

I’m used to intense. My whole friend group

is incredibly competitive. We actually have an

explicit non violence rule after Astrid rage quit,

accused me of cheating, then punched me. 

And I’m sure you didn’t deserve it

Excuse me, I would never cheat. I’m a man of honor.

What time are you starting? 

People show up around 8 or 9, after dinner. 

We’ll see you then. My lunch break is

ending. Have a good rest of your day. 

* * *

“She’s coming.” Jack tells Hiccup when he comes by Jack’s office. 

“Did you warn her about my girlfriend?” 

“I did. I still maintain I didn’t cheat.  


“And she maintains she only lightly tapped your arm.” 

They both laugh. 

“Her sister and brother in law are also coming.” 

“So you’re meeting the family.” Hiccup smirks. 

“No, they’re just in town visiting.” 

“Okay.” He pauses. “Have you spent the whole morning obsessing over this or did you actually finish the tweaks I assigned you.” 

“Don’t worry boss, I finished.” 

It might be weird for some people to work for their friends. Maybe it would be weirder of Dragons of Berk was a joint idea or if Hiccup wasn’t a good boss. But luckily Hiccup was fair but firm, and the sole mastermind behind the VPN company. To be totally honest, it had been somewhat messy when they had to hire people outside their friend group. They had growing pains when figuring out how to make newbies feel just as important and welcome as you know...the CEO’s best friend. But they’d gotten their shit together and their company culture was really good. Fun and respectful. Everyone was friends and people had come to trust that Jack and Fishlegs weren’t getting special treatment. Tuff getting put on probation when he came to the office massively hungover definitely made it clear that there weren't exceptions for the original group. 

  
  


* * *

**6:23 PM From the phone of Elsa Arendelle**

I was thinking of ordering delivery...want to split?

Where were you thinking of ordering from?

I’m craving Chinese. Wong’s?

Okay, are you ordering?

Yeah, Doordash.

I’ll have the Fish fillet with broccoli

and I’ll give you cash if that’s okay? 

Sure, do you want to just come over?

Olaf can play with Karl.

:) 

* * *

She knocks on his door. 

“It’s open!” 

She’d watched enough television to know that it wasn’t really crazy to leave your apartment door open but it felt strange. They live in a safe part of Daly City, but _still_. 

She opens the door to Jack playing with Karl on the sofa. 

“ETA is fifteen to twenty minutes,” he says looking up with a smile. “You can sit wherever. Just keep Olaf leashed...just in case he gets too excited about Karl.” 

“Of course.” She sits in the armchair, feeling like sitting next to him would be a bit awkward. 

“How was your day?” She wants to not rely on him to start conversations. 

“Good, I found the source of a few bugs we were having.” 

“So to be clear, you work for,” She pauses because it’s just so weird that he goes by this nickname, “Hiccup?”

“Yeah. He’s a good boss. I can work from home and make my own schedule as long as changes are given two weeks notice. I usually get to work at 10 and leave at 6.” 

“I work 8 to 5 and I feel like I still have homework.” She shares. “It’s not like they explicitly say you have to read briefs outside of working hours but you basically don’t have time to during the day.” 

“What kind of law do you do?” 

“Private Defense. Though, my friend Pocahontas has been trying to convince me to move to public defense or immigration, something more humanitarian.” 

“I mean you probably have debt from law school.” He says as he pets Karl. 

Elsa winces then admits, “I’m a trust fund kid. I definitely don’t have to work in the private sector.” 

“What’s keeping you from switching?” 

She thinks for a moment. “I did an internship with a public defenders office in college and I just can’t put myself through all those hours. I mean I can, and I did for the internship, but Anna, my sister, basically staged an intervention. I have a tendency to get sucked in to work and forget to take care of myself. And, I guess I have complicated feelings about being a rich white woman in immiigration law or human rights oriented stuff. It feels very much like I’m a white savior.” 

She wonders if she went a bit too deep for a casual conversation about work. 

“Hiccup has us do this diversity training every year.” He says thoughtfully, “And then we do these talks a few times a year too. We had one a few months ago about what allyship looks like and the speaker talked about how the fear of being a white savior is usually just an excuse not to get our hands dirty. It’s easy to fall into savorism but people will tell you when you do, you know?” 

“That’s exactly what Pocahontas said the last time we talked about it.” She sighs.

‘I’m not saying that you have to switch. You can and probably already do a lot of good while still working as a private defender.” 

Elsa nods. “I’ve tried to put most of my income into charities and other non profits.” 

“Honestly, I’m impressed that you work at all.” He laughs, “Most of the trust fund kids I knew in college made it very clear they thought they were above real jobs.” 

“I hate people like that. My parents taught me and Anna at a very young age the importance of hard work and giving back. They made it clear that we had a responsibility to use our privileges for good.” 

“They seem like good people. Do you talk to them much?” 

They were going to get to this at some point. They’d exhausted stories about Stanford and her undergraduate experiences at Georgetown. If she was committing to wanting to be friends with him she’d have to tell him.

“They died when I was eighteen in a plane crash.” 

He reaches out his hand to hold hers. She takes it. His hand is bigger than hers. He squeezes and says, “It really sucks that you lost your parents. It’s unfair and terrible. Thank you for trusting me with that. I know it probably isn’t easy to talk about, so we don’t have to talk about it.” 

She nods, “Thank you.” 

  
There’s an ungodly banging on the door. “Doordash!” a loud male voice calls. It snaps them out of the moment. 

He suggests they watch a stand up special and freaks out when she says she’s never seen John Mulaney. It’s a fun evening. 

She leaves once the special is over. Karl is less afraid of Olaf. Elsa is less afraid of sharing. She underestimated Jack’s sensitivity. Apparently one can be a total goofball and be thoughtful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just imagining Elsa and Pocahontas being badass lawyer friends is pretty cool. I hope the convo about Elsa's job doesn't come off as too preachy it just felt natural to talk about this because I can't imagine someone friends with an Indigenous Rights Activist not thinking about this kind of stuff. And I definitely see Elsa as someone very concerned with doing what's right.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments give me sweet sweet validation. Just saying.


End file.
